History Characters / TheShadowhunterChroniclesMainCharacters

* PlatonicLifepartners: She and Jamie used to be this. They were best friends and planned to become parabatai. [[However their friendship ended when Cristina overheard Jamie saying that he only wanted to become parabatai with Cristina because of political reasons and didn't actually care about her.]]

* BiTheWay: [[spoiler:He had arelationship with Kieran in TheWildHunt,]] but is also attracted to Cristina. He easily admits to being bisexual when Emma questions him about it. Most Faeries are bisexual as they view love and lust differently than mundanes.

%% * ArmoredClosetGay: Clary accuses him of being this in the first book.

%% * CrazyJealousGuy: Alec can be extremely jealous, especially in the later books.
%% * DeadpanSnarker: Applies mostly to the tv show

%% * StraightGay: He doesn't have any of the stereotypical traits of a gay man.
* TallDarkAndHandsome: He shares his mother's good looks and Clary describes him having long limbs like a dancer.

%% * VitriolicBestBuds: With Clary in the tv show. They grow protective of each other.

* ShamelessFanserviceGirl: According to Jace, Isabelle is very comfortable with her own body. In the TV series, she usually wears skimpy and revealing clothing, sometimes bordering on the {{stripperiffic}}.

%% * {{Expy}}: Is a CompositeCharacter of the TheDracoTrilogy versions of [[Literature/HarryPotter Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Seamus Finnigan]]. InUniverse he starts to take on many aspects of the biblical Caine thanks to Clary inscribing His mark onto him.

%% * BackFromTheDead: [[spoiler:Killed in the third book, but Clary brings him back]].

* IHaveManyNames: He doesn't really have a surname. He was Jace Wayland, Jace [[spoiler:Morgenstern]], Jace [[spoiler:Herondale]] and Jace Lightwood.

* ActionGirl: One of the best shadowhunters of her generation

*

[[folder:James "Jem" Carstairs]]

Brought up in the [[ButNotTooForeign Institute in Shanghai]], Jem's parents were [[spoiler: [[DarkAndTroubledPast killed by a demon who allowed Jem to live]]]]—but with [[SoapOperaDisease a terrible price to be paid]]. [[IllBoy Frail]] and silver-haired, Jem seems an unlikely demon-killer, but his skills and swift intelligence make him a formidable foe. He finds a kindred spirit in Tessa as both of them feel they are torn between two worlds, neither belonging completely to one or to the other. As Jem's affection for her grows, will Will have to hurt the only person in his life he's ever seemed to care about?

%% * BewareTheNiceOnes
* BloodFromTheMouth: Due to his 'illness', he coughs up blood when weak.
* ButNotTooBlack: According to Creator/CassandraClare, an early cover for one of the ''The Clockwork Prince'' him pulling his hat over his face. The cover was changed when Clare protested.
* ButNotTooForeign: He's half English and half Chinese[[note]]which was unusual for the time period given the state of relations between Britain and China[[/note]]. His actual name is Jian, but this is only brought up once or twice in passing and for some reason he seems to prefer to be called by his "British" name.
* ChronicHeroSyndrome: According to Jessamine. Not as much as Will, though.

* DarkAndTroubledPast: [[spoiler: A demon who had a grudge against his mother tortured him in front of his parents, injecting him over and over with a drug that made him hallucinate vividly. See SoapOperaDisease.]]
* DeadpanSnarker: His snarkiness comes mostly from saying something, then adding "Not really" with something humorous. He can play the trope completely straight, though.
* DefinitelyJustACold: To Tessa when she asks about his health.
* DiseaseBleach: [[spoiler:Turns out it's because of a demonic halluginogenic drug originally used to torture him as a child.]] Same goes for his eyes.
* ElegantClassicalMusician: He can play the violin, and quite well, too.
* {{Expy}}: Of the Fanfic/DracoTrilogy version of [[Literature/HarryPotter Harry Potter]].
%% * {{Foil}}: To Will.
* FullNameUltimatum: A partial version of this trope; Will is the only one to call him, "James", although it is a mark of affection more than anything.
%% * GentlemanSnarker
* ICantBelieveAGuyLikeYouWouldNoticeMe: To Tessa, [[spoiler: after she accepts his proposal.]]
* [[IllGirl Ill Boy]]: He has to take a drug to battle a disease he got from being tortured as a child and coughs up blood if he goes too long without it.
* IncurableCoughOfDeath: His illness that causes him to cough up blood. No cure has been found. [[spoiler:That is until the epilogue of ''The Clockwork Princess'', where a cure was finally found.]]
* InterspeciesRomance: With Tessa.
* JadeColoredGlasses: Subverted. [[spoiler: He had a very traumatic experience but seems to function perfectly normally outside his "illness".]]
* KindheartedCatLover: When he adopts Church.
* MementoMacGuffin: His mother's family ring, which [[spoiler: he uses to propose to Tessa.]]

%% * NiceGuy
%% * NiceGuysFinishLast: [[spoiler: Subverted/Averted/Inverted? Depends on how literal you take the name.]]
%% * TheNotLoveInterest: For Will.
* ObliviousToLove: Probably can't tell that Sophie's sweet on him.
* OddFriendship: With Will - Jem is a kindhearted nice guy and Will is a rude asshole. They even ''look'' absolutely different: Jem is all white and silver and Will is all dark colors.
* SecretlyDying: As of ''The Clockwork Prince'', [[spoiler:he is still hiding his SoapOperaDisease from everyone except Will and Tessa.]]
%% * TheSmartGuy of the FiveManBand
%% * SensitiveGuyAndManlyMan: The Sensitive Guy to Will's Manly Man, Will's tendencies often making him look near-saintlike in comparison.
* SoapOperaDisease: [[spoiler: It was caused by a demon drug that was used to torture him and his parents when he was younger. There is no known cure for it, and he has to keep taking a specific drug to keep on fighting - as Brother Enoch says, taking the drug means a slow death, but keeping him off the drug would mean a quick one.]]
%% * StockForeignName
* SwordCane: His WeaponOfChoice is a jade-tipped one.
* TechnicolorEyes: Jem's eyes, [[CurtainsMatchTheWindow like his hair]], are silver.
* TokenMinority: He's part Asian.
* YouGottaHaveBlueHair: His hair is described as silver.
* YourDaysAreNumbered: He is [[spoiler: addicted to a drug (yin fen) that is slowly killing him. However, to stop taking the drug will also kill him.]]

[[folder:Theresa "Tessa" Gray]]

Tessa has spent the first sixteen years of her life being overprotected by her aunt after [[ParentalAbandonment the death of her parents in a carriage accident]]. She lives almost all her life in books, [[GenreSavvy dreaming of having the kind of adventures the heroines she reads about do]]—until she is forced to travel from New York to London when her brother Nathaniel goes missing and only a pair of mysterious—and sinister—women called the [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Dark Sisters]] seem to know where he might have gone. The Shadowhunters of the London Institute may be Tessa's only hope of finding Nate, but their mysterious world of demons and Downworlders holds many dangers for her—especially when she realizes she might be more a part of it than she'd thought.

%% * ActionGirl
* AffectionateNickname: She is called Tessa by most everyone, Tessie by her brother, and Tess by Will.
%% * AllGirlsWantBadBoys / SingleWomanSeeksGoodMan: Will and Jem respectively.
* ArrangedMarriage: Tessa was going to be forced to marry the Magister had she not been rescued by Will. She was obviously not very happy about it.
* BrainyBrunette: She is a wide reader and quotes poetry quite often. She has the potential to lapse into BadassBookworm territory.
* ChekhovsGun: [[spoiler: Will's mention of Boadicea gives Tessa the strength to fool the Magister.]]
* ChekhovsGift: [[spoiler: The clockwork angel. Also, Tessa's dislike of chocolate and the [[PerfectPoison gift]] Nate gives Aunt Harriet...]]
%% * ConvenientlyAnOrphan
%% * DeadpanSnarker
%% * DeceasedParentsAreTheBest
* DrivenToSuicide: Subverted. [[spoiler: She makes the Magister ''think'' she killed herself so that he wouldn't get his hands on her power, but in reality she Changed into a woman who'd died by a gunshot wound seconds before the wound would prove fatal.]]
* {{Expy}}: Of ''Fanfic/TheDracoTrilogy'' version of [[Literature/HarryPotter Hermione Granger]] .
* FakingTheDead: In ''The Clockwork Angel'', [[spoiler:she fakes her own suicide to prevent Mortmain from using her power.]]
* FirstKiss: [[spoiler: William Herondale in the attic.]]
%% * GenreSavvy: Because she's so wide-read.
* GoodAngelBadAngel: Played with by having Jem and Will be Tessa's angels, respectively. It doesn't hurt that they're both part angel.
* HalfHumanHybrid: She's a warlock. [[spoiler: Her father was a demon who fooled Tessa's mother into thinking he was human.]]
%% * TheHero
* InterspeciesRomance: With both Will and Jem.
* LoveTriangle: Will-->Tessa<--Jem
* MarkOfTheSupernatural: [[spoiler: Despite being a warlock, she does not have a mark because her mother was a Shadowhunter.]] This is basically her distinguishing mark.
* MoralityPet: For Will.
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: Invoked in ''The Clockwork Princess'', when she realizes exactly why and how Mortmain wishes to use her.
* ParentalAbandonment: Her parents died when she was three.
%% * PluckyGirl
* ShapeShifter: This starts off the whole story because of her ability to change into anyone, even possessing some of their memories and personality (she just has to touch one of their items to do it the first time).
** DeadPersonImpersonation: She is able to shapeshift into dead people.
** {{Humanshifting}}: This is her unique power. Her whole schtick is that she can change her appearance into any humanoid, dead or alive, as long as she has touched an object that belonged to them. She's turned into both males and females.
** NotQuiteBackToNormal: She worries that this would happen eventually.
** ShapeshifterDefaultForm: Her normal body, of course.
** VoluntaryShapeshifting: After she learns to control her powers.
* TrailersAlwaysSpoil: The fact that [[spoiler: Will and Tessa kiss]] is revealed in the trailer.
* TwoGuysAndAGirl: With Jem and Will.
* WideEyedIdealist: Tessa always compares her adventures to what she's read and hopes for the best of all situations.

[[/folder]]

[[folder:William "Will" Herondale]]

Seventeen-year-old Will is the sort of young man [[AllGirlsWantBadBoys nice Victorian girls were warned against]]. He drinks, gambles, and enjoys the company of ladies of questionable virtue—at least, as much as he enjoys anything. Will hates everyone and everything, with the possible exception of Jem, and even that's in some doubt. Charlotte despairs of keeping him alive past the age of nineteen. When he finds himself oddly drawn to Tessa, his friends begin to hope that the Downworlder girl will prove Will's unlikely salvation—but as Tessa grows closer to the bleak secret that makes his life a prison, danger threatens to destroy them both if she ever finds out the truth.

----

!The Dark Artifices

[[folder:Emma Carstairs]]
When Emma was younger, she was living happily in Los Angeles with her parents. Then they died in the Dark War under suspicious circumstances. After that she started living at the Los Angeles institute with her best friend/future parabatai Julian Blackthorn and his family. Even though the Clave claimed her parents got murdered by Sebastian, she knows that there is more to it and she is determined to find out what really happened.

* ActionGirl: One of the best shadowhunters of her generation
* PlatonicLifePartners: When she and Julian became parabatai, they swore to be this. However some time later they fell in love. [[spoiler: At the end of the series their parabatai bond gets broken and they become a couple.]]
* StarCrossedLovers: She falls in love with her parabatai Julian, which is strictly forbidden.

[[folder:Julian "Jules" Blackthorn]]

Julian is the third child of Andrew Blackthorn (and the first with his wife Eleanor). In the dark war his father died, his older sister got banished and his older brother got kidnapped by faeries. Since his mother had already died a few years earlier Julian and his younger sibling along with his best friend Emma (who lost all her family in the war) got placed under the care of his uncle Arthur.

When Emma was younger, she was living happily in Los Angeles with her parents. Then they died in the Dark War under suspicios circumstances. After that she started living at the Los Angeles institute with her best friend/future parabatai Julian Blackthorn and his family. Even though the clave claimed her parents got murdered by Sebastian, she knew that there was more to it and she is determined to find out what really happened.

** DeadPersonImpersonation: She can do this.

One of the main charcarters of Literature/TheDarkArtifices. Julian lives at the institute of Los Angeles with his siblings.

[[folder:Emma Castairs]]
One of the main characters of Literature/TheDarkArtifices

Seventeen-year-old Will is the sort of young man [[AllGirlsWantBadBoys nice Victorian girls were warned against]]. He drinks, gambles, and enjoys the company of ladies of questionable virtue—at least, as much as he enjoys anything. Will hates everyone and everything, with the possible exception of Jem, and even that's in some doubt. Charlotte despairs of keeping him alive past the age of nineteen. When he finds himself oddly drawn to Tessa, his friends begin to hope that the Downworlder girl will prove Will's unlikely salvation—but as Tessa grows closer to the bleak secret that makes his life a prison, danger threatens to destroy them both if she ever finds out the truth.

* DistressedDude: A recurring plot in almost every book is him being held in some form of captivity. This despite the fact that he is one of the most skilled [[DemonSlayer Shadowhunters]] of his generation. Most of it is that he is a bit of a DeathSeeker, and a large amount of effort on the part of his family and friends goes into getting him out of whatever trouble he has gotten into. In ''City of Bones'' his best friend [[BeleagueredAssistant Alec]] had initially never slain a demon, primarily because his main focus was on keeping Jace alive instead.

* LadyOfWar: Isabelle is the daughter of an old, prestigious, Shadowhunter family. She herself is a very talented DemonSlayer and manages to fight quite effectively even while wearing dresses and high heels. Her preferred tactic is to WhipItGood using her weapon of choice, an enchanted whip made of electrum (an alloy of gold and silver). Also noted for BeautyIsNeverTarnished -- she can join her brothers fighting monsters underground without getting dirty even as they are covered in filth. When asked how she manages it, she remarks:

* [[ICantBelieveAGuyLikeYouWouldNoticeMe I Can't Believe A Girl Like You Would Notice Me!]]: To Tessa, [[spoiler: after she accepts his proposal.]]

%% * [[spoiler: NiceGuysFinishLast: Subverted/Averted/Inverted? Depends on how literal you take the name.]]

* TechnicolorEyes / GrayEyes: Jem's eyes, [[CurtainsMatchTheWindow like his hair]], are silver.

* PlatonicLife-Partners: When she and Julian became parabatai, they swore to be this. However some time later they fell in love. [[spoiler: At the end of the series their parabatai bond gets broken and they become a couple.]]
* Star-CrossedLovers: She falls in love with her parabatai Julian, which is strictly forbidden.

* PlatonicLife-Partners: When he and Emma became parabatai, they swore to be this. However some time later they fell in love. [[spoiler: At the end of the series their parabatai bond gets broken and they become a couple.]]

* Star-CrossedLovers: He falls in love with his parabatai Emma, which is strictly forbidden.

[[/folder]]

[[/folder]]

[[folder:Alexander "Alec" Lightwood]]
!!Alexander "Alec" Lightwood
!!!'''Played by''': Creator/KevinZegers (''Film/TheMortalInstrumentsCityOfBones''), Creator/MatthewDaddario (''Series/{{Shadowhunters}}'')

[[quoteright:220:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/aleclightwood.png]]
[[caption-width-right:221:[[labelnote: Click here to see Alec in the film adaptation.]][[quoteright:221:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/aleclightwoodfilm.png]][[/labelnote]]]]
[[caption-width-right:220:[[labelnote: Click here to see Alec in the TV adaptation.]][[quoteright:220:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/al.jpg]][[/labelnote]]]]

The eldest Lightwood sibling, who is shyer, snarkier, and generally less welcoming, but his cold, standoffish persona crumbles faster.